


At Dawn They Sleep

by 1JettaPug



Series: Central's Vampires [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Bloodlust, Comfort, Family, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Gore, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-10-16 06:46:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10565844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1JettaPug/pseuds/1JettaPug
Summary: "I knew you had the strength to fulfill my legacy. Besides..." Jesse gently laid his hand on top of Axel's shoulder. "It will be in your blood soon enough.""Wai- What do you mean in- in my blood?"





	1. Chapter 1

Axel sped through the dark like a comet. Nobody saw or heard him, he moved so fast.

The old theatrical warehouse was pitch black and completely deserted. He walked right through the front doors of the warehouse.

His heart felt like it was to explode right out of his chest, but he forced himself to remain calm. Axel knew He would be here. He had to be here. It was almost like he could just sense He would be. Axel felt a bubble of laughter begin to build up in his chest. He couldn't help it! He always felt like laughing when his nerves began to try to get the best of him.

He walked over towards an old cellar. He pulled out his phone and turned on its flashlight, providing him to see through the darkness to a set of stairs. He went straight down, and as he descended he noticed how candles began to appear atop of shelves along the stairway. 

When he reached the bottom, he saw several tall candles resting on a table directly across from him. Sitting beside the table, and playing a game of jacks with himself, sat the man known as James Jesse. He had been waiting for him. Oh how he had waited for Axel to finally appear...

The corner of Jesse's lips pulled back, stretching back to reveal his fangs. His teeth were long and sharp.

Axel stared at them for the longest time, only Jesse's words breaking him from his trance.

"Good morning, Axel~" he crooned, not paying the young man a single glance. "Or should I say good evening?" Jesse's voice was warm and welcoming to him. 

Axel's eyes firmly landed on him, and he held back a soft gasp that tried to escape past his lips when Jesse looked right at him. He still looked the same from the first night he met him. Pale, messy blond hair and sharp eyes framed with thick lashes. "You waited for me," Axel breathed. "Just like you said you would..."

"Yes,"

"You know I cannot believe that we're finally in the same room," Axel smiled brightly, taking steps towards Jesse. "I mean you're my hero."

"Ah, such flattery," Jesse finally disregarded his game and held a hand over his heart. "But don't forget, my boy, that you were the one who sought me out first. Searched through all those old occult books for pictures of me, old prison records that belonged to me, long lists of _murder charges_ that can be traced back to the eighteenth century... Ah such wonderful memories those things bring back." he sighed softly.

Axel, who at this point had fallen on his knees right before Jesse, looked up at his as if he had hung the stars and moon. "There just one thing I've been dying to ask..."

Jesse nodded, allowing the boy to continue.

"Why did you choose me?"

"Because I knew you had the strength to fulfill my legacy. Besides..." Jesse gently laid his hand on top of Axel's shoulder. "It will be in your blood soon enough."

"Wai- What do you mean in- in my blood?" Axel asked.

"The real reason I tracked you down and groomed you to be the best you could possibly be, Axel..." he held him in a deep moment of suspense. "I will be your father."

He grinned down at Axel and pat his cheek affectionately. "I love you, really. You were the only person to ever put all the pieces of my puzzle together. You were the only one to ever take my story seriously. When I caught onto you trying to pick up every crumb of the trail of trickery I left behind, I said to myself, "There goes a most remarkable child, a true prodigy. There is the boy who will carry on my legacy."

Axel leaned into Jesse's surprisingly warm touch and melted. "And then you sent the letters." he muttered, beating him to the punch, and Jesse's dark, warm smile told him that his was correct.

"Bingo, you brilliant boy~" he nodded and kissed him on the forehead.

Axel laughed with such spirit, soothed by the warmth in those deep blue eyes. He felt warm and safe around Jesse. He felt a happy smile firmly plant itself on his face, and he sighed in such great content.

"You will do such a wonderful job as my little fledgling~" Jesse crooned gently. "But first, we need to get you ready..."

"Wa..." Axel blinked twice, mind foggy and feeling confused. “What?” he finally managed to say, but his voice was slurred, like he’d been drinking, but he knew he hadn’t touched a drop that night.

“It's alright, Axel~” Jesse said, voice warm and soothing, “You’re feeling a little woozy, that’s all.”

And just like that, Axel began to feel extremely woozy. His eyes were growing heavier and heavier, and he found it so much easier just to fall right onto Jesse's lap. “Oh," he simply said, leaning further into Jesse's control.

“You're safe,” Jesse whispered in his ear, voice hypnotic and gentle. Safe. Axel felt very safe with him... He rubbed his cheek against the warm skin of Jesse's hand. He grabbed Axel up in his arms and, and positioned his soon-to-be fledgling to sit on his lap. He smiled down at him, then kissed his forehead.

"You're going to die, but you will wake again. When you wake up, you're going to be very, very hungry... and very grumpy. Try not to hit me, okay, kiddo?" Jesse spoke, sounding tender. He tilted his Axel’s head so that he had perfect access to his neck. Sharp fangs bit into him, but Axel barely registered them with the strong hypnotic spell he was put under. 

"You taste so sweet~" Jesse mentioned after he had a taste of a mouthful of his young blood. "I will bring you into a new life. A life worth living, my dear Axel." With that said, Jesse’s mouth closed against the fresh wound on his neck. Axel couldn't feel or notice it, but his body was falling further and further into Jesse's hold even Jesse licked against his neck.

Axel blinked his eyes open and mumbled. “Jesse...”

When Jesse had drank almost all of what he could from Axel without killing him, he bit into his own wrist and held it over Axel’s mouth. He gently shook the young man to try to rouse him enough to drink.

“Axel. You have to drink it~”

Instantly, Axel’s tongue pressed against the wound. Axel swallowed a lot with very greedy sucks at Jesse’s wrist. 

"That's it, Axel, drink up- Ouch!" he winced slightly as he bite down rather hard into the wound. The pain faded quickly, and Jesse was soon smiling at how messy Axel was, spilling blood all across his cheeks and letting drops run down his chin.

 _He'll have quite the gluttonous attitude when it comes to feeding,_ Jesse thought to himself. "Take what you need, my boy~" he told him, running his hands through Axel's hair and rocking him, humming an old song that he recalled from so very long ago.


	2. Chapter 2

_Giovanni Giuseppe had been born halfway through the eighteenth century. He had become a vampire at the age of sixty-two, the same year he joined William Batty's circus after leaving Italy for the first time. Between 1838 and 1840, they traveled from Newcastle to Edinburgh and then to Portsmouth and Southampton, providing plenty of victims for the young fledgling to pick from._

_James Jesse was born when Giovanni Giuseppe joined the Flying Jesses. They were a family of famous circus performers traveling America during the 1960's, and they had just lost their son. James Jesse had fallen to his death during practice, and the owner of the circus was in desperate need of a replacement. Giovanni agreed to the job since it still allowed him to travel and pick out his victims from different towns from across the states._

_Eventually, as time passed and Jesse's boredom increased, he chose to leave the circus. He needed something fun! He needed some excitement in his life! And he was more than willing to kill for it._

_James Jesse quickly became a psychotic criminal who operated under the guise of The Trickster. He started off in California and made his way down towards Missouri, now killing with more of a refined and cultivated sense of style. It had probably taken over one hundred years, but James Jesse finally managed to control his feral, gluttonous hunger. Quite the feat when he heard old stories about it taking others hundreds of years to get themselves under control._

_Indeed, while other vampires were biting down on their victims and carving into their flesh like hungry tigers, James Jesse chose to seduce them. He became a poisonous cocktail of soft whispers and gentle touches in the night. He loved to see his prey wither and writhe in the palm of his hand. It became his addiction, his ultimate pleasure in the darkest of nights._

_The law eventually started to catch onto his games, and they wanted him brought to justice. They started keeping track of his killings, or at least the ones where they could find the bodies..._

_James Jesse quickly became a vampire wanted in six different states for six different murders._

_Then they sent the repo man after him and everything changed._

_Megan Lockhart was what changed everything._

_She was operating as a repo man, who was nearly killed by Jesse when the Flash came to her rescue in a theater he'd set up shop in._

_They turned him into the police, but Jesse wouldn't die by the state's punishments, be it stake or sunlight. No, no, Jesse was going to save Megan! He'd fallen for her stubbornness and cunning abilities, and she was going to be the perfect sidekick... So, he escaped his captors and drove to Central City, playing all sorts of dangerous practical jokes in order to rescue his sweetheart from the hypnotic influences of the Flash._

_Alas, his love for Megan Lockhart would be short lived. When Flash then drew the Trickster into attending the Central City Police Department's charity costume ball, he used a super speed one-man juggling act to take him down, causing him to be brought into the custody of the local police._

_That was the first time he ended up in Iron Heights Prison. Needless to say, he didn't enjoy the experience. They gave the imprisoned vampires soy mixed with small amounts of blood. It was barely enough to keep them alive some days, but Jesse found that candy and sweets kept his vampiric nature in check._

_Later on, James Jesse escaped with the help of Zoey Clark, a young woman who offered herself as the official version of his sidekick Prank as well as her resources. She was deeply in love with him, and after spending many-a-nights by her side, Jesse slowly found himself falling in love with her. It surprised him when he initially realized that it did not feel like the love he felt for Megan. No, it wasn't a trick. It felt all too wonderful to be a cruel trick._

_It was two and half years later than he would've liked, but the Trickster and Prank captured the Flash, with Jesse using a brainwashing machine to make the Flash into his ally. He was forced into using the machine since it seemed his own hypnotic powers wouldn't be enough to control the hero._

_Although, all his effort was for nothing when the Flash became restored and began to chase after them. Jesse tried to help Zoey escape, but he just ended up getting his beloved captured by the police. Soon enough, the Flash had Jesse, and he was brought back into custody once again._

_James Jesse became considered the most dangerous thing Central City had ever seen. He was incarcerated in Iron Heights Prison after committing a series of murders, in which he killed at least over a dozen civilians and two cops. Jesse smiled when they told him that. It told him that they hadn't managed to find the other five dozen bodies he drained of blood, so he wasn't getting charged and killed right on the spot like with some vampires._

_Within Iron Heights, James Jesse developed an obsession with killing the Flash, going as far as to hang up crude, gory pictures of different scenarios of him killing the Flash on the walls of his maximum security ward._

_It was 1999, and Jesse stopped in the middle of drawing the Flash getting pecked to death by a flock of chickens. He glanced up and saw a guard trying not to shake as he quickly dumped a letter in slot for him. When he'd ran out of the room for dear life, Jesse stood up and snatched the letter from its place._

_He'd never gotten letters before._

_No one was crazy enough to write to a madman, let alone a vampiric one._

_He opened his letter and noticed that it was from Central Country Hospital, a mental health facility._

__

__

_That was where they sent his precious Zoey..._

_He didn't understand... They never let the two of them pass letters back and forth, so why did they let this one through? As he started to read the letter, he finally understood. The words... they weren't hers..._

_He fell to his knees and harshly gripped the paper. He was shaking, absorbing each heavy word that was delicately written on the paper._

_The guards came in to shut him up after hours of screaming and ripping everything in his cage to shreds. They stared at him as he pounded against the reinforced glass like an animal. His screams were filled with words that none of them could piece together, but they fear them nonetheless._

_It was some time before Jesse managed to read the second letter. He had to pull himself together first. He had to let her death sink in... and he had to attempt to wrap his head around the fact that she'd had a son._

_A young boy that had been taken away from her the second he'd been born. They didn't disclose the child's name in the letter, and it crushed him that they wouldn't even let him know the name that Zoey gave him. However, they did tell him that he was born human, and he had been given a loving happy home._

_But that wasn't good enough for Jesse. He was all he had left of her! He wanted to know his son! He deserved to know after they withheld Zoey's death and his son's birth from him for over eleven years!_

_By 2000, Jesse had manged to track down a boy by the name Axel Walker. According to his sources, the boy had been born at Central County Hospital in 1988. He was later adopted by a couple in Central City and had his last name changed to Walker._

_That was all Jesse needed._

_He began talking to his son through letters, grooming him to be an ideal companion for him. For the next 14 years, they continued to talk and became close._

_When they had grown comfortable, Axel let him down that he was researching a vampire named Giovanni Giuseppe. He had been searching through countless, old occult books for pictures of him. Apparently, Axel had done an ancestry test in order to find his blood relatives, and his genetics matched up with Giovanni Giuseppe._

_Jesse was... surprised to say the least. Who knew the kid had been looking for him longer then he had been looking for him? Who knew Iron Heights kept his blood samples from his first incarceration when they had so many other vampires' blood samples to juggle?_

_Axel kept telling him about all of Giovanni's killings and victims. He was getting closer and closer to connecting Giovanni Giuseppe and James Jesse with each letter. And Jesse couldn't be prouder!_

_Eventually, Jesse confided his vampirism to Axel. Needless to say, Axel couldn't be happier to find out that he'd been talking with a vampire! His next letter was all questions about his vampirism and fanboy questions about Jesse's murders._

_Ah, but that was so long ago,_ James Jesse thought to himself. He hummed a little tune, sucking on a lollipop, and swinging his feet back and forth on top of the edge of a roof. He finished it soon enough and unwrapped another one, placing it on his tongue and pocketing the wrapper.

He looked down at a young person walking back from their trip to the grocery store. It seemed as if they had gone in for milk and bread if their bags were anything to go by.

He grinned. They were perfect.

It was late at night. Normally, this fact would mean little to most people, but they just continued on home without a care in the world. Jesse slowly rolled his head to the side and smiled at his young fledgling. Time to feed...

The person froze in the middle of their stride, their eyes focused on a street lamp not far from them. A young man was standing under the pool of light, and they was positive he had not been there a second ago.

They passed by him, feeling a very dark aura surrounding him. They nodded slightly in acknowledgment to the young man, not daring to look at him, but still confident enough to be polite. They kept walking, their shoes hitting against the sidewalk, and listened carefully for any sign of the man following them.

They turned a corner, heading for their apartment, and felt a rush of wind fly past them. They stopped again and looked around in confusion. They turned back around and stopped when they saw the young man standing in front of them. Without giving the human any warning, Axel growled and pushed them forward, knocking them off their feet. Before they even fell to the ground, Axel was there, sinking his teeth in to their neck and ignoring any pitiful sounds they made. They stopped struggling after just a few seconds, and the fear kept their heart beating until he could drink every drop he possibly could.

The body slumped against the cold sidewalk. Axel panted, feeling the blood run down his chin and neck. He glanced up at Jesse and smiled. "One more~?" he asked ever so sweetly.

"I don't know Axel, you've already have three tonight~" Jesse teased him, but then Axel gave him the look. It didn't take long before Jesse caved into his son's wishes. "Alright, kiddo." he nodded.

He loved training his boy how to hunt, letting Axel rip apart bodies and drink his victims dry. And while it was all to quench their desperate thirst, it also helped them bond as father and son. It was something the two of them had been looking for, for ages.

"Let's go, kiddo~" Jesse jumped down and swung an arm around his shoulder. "We're burning moonlight,"


	3. Chapter 3

Before Axel knew what was happening, someone had reached around the two of them and pressed two cold-guns to the soft flesh of their throats. 

Axel froze at the touch of the cool pistol-shaped weapon. Jesse just giggled and pushed the gun away from their necks.

" _Lenny_!" he said, turning around to face the other. "Oh, I knew we were being followed by someone!"

"I have a hard time believing that your hearing is still that good, James." the man drawled, tucking his guns back under his coat.

"You're doubting _my_ word?" Jesse faked a hurt expression.

"I never believed a word you ever told me before," the man said. "Why start now?"

Jesse laughed, and he narrowed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists. "Oooooh, just for that, one of these nights, Lenny... I swear, one of these nights- _**BAM!!!**_ A stake right through your _cold_ , miserable heart!"

The man shot a glared right back at him. "That'll be the night Mick gives up matches, and you know it." He cocked an eyebrow at Axel, amused to see he was still shook up from having a cold-gun right at his throat. To him, it seemed, that the kid still hadn't figured out that his and Jesse's lives were not in danger... for now, anyway. This was just the usual banter that the two of them went through whenever they met up.

"Did I scare you, kid?"

"Probably," Jesse snapped before Axel could answer. "It is all you're good for." he snorted. "Scaring newbies and robbing ATMs."

Turning and walking slowly behind his master, Axel peeked over at the stranger in the blue parka.

"Aw, c'mon, kid," he said. "I don't bite... much."

"Face it, no one wants to greet you when you give them such a _chilling_ hello." Jesse giggled. He grabbed his boy by the shoulder and introduced them. "This is Len Snart, aka a cold piece of shit who keeps crawling to me to get me to join his little clan. Lenny, this is Axel."

"Charmed," Len sighed. "Lovely to see the last fifty years haven't affected your insanity, James."

Jesse just smiled brightly and said, "Yes, and how lovely to see how you haven't managed to get that stick out of your ass yet. Perhaps, you should go get Mick and make him get it out-"

"Chill out," Len snapped before Jesse could go any further. He glared at the older vampire. "I came here to talk, Jesse. You're wasting _my_ time."

Jesse made a face. "And you don't think you're wasting _my_ time? Time that I could be spending training my newly blooded heir?" he declared firmly.

"The two of you are just reveling in the bloodbath you created." Len said, gesturing to them and then all the blood on the ground. "That's not what I'd call proper training."

"And who are you to judge, Lenny? I know _who_ trained you." Jesse growled darkly.

"That _bastard_ is dead," he snapped. "We're here to talk about you."

"What if I don't want to talk?"

"Then I'll make you," Len could see his eyes the bloodlust start to form in his eyes. The eyes themselves were staring to get a dark, rich tint to them. He wondered if Jesse was going to let the kid just stand there and watch them- watch them as they fought like a pair of rabid dogs. As if the older vampire could read his mind, Jesse smiled.

“Axel~" he crooned ever so sweetly. "Be a dear and meet me at home. I promise this won't take long~” Jesse turned around and gave his boy a wink. Axel held back a concerned opinion and stood where he was. “I don't break my promises, Axel. Now run along and play. Maybe kill a few orphans on the way home, too~" His son only half nodded still dazed by the events, and he ran off into the shadows reluctantly leaving his master behind.

Once he was out of sight, Jesse turned back to Len. He simply smiled at him. He flashed his elongated teeth and giggled, "So give me one good reason-" He growled, lunging forward and forcing Len to the ground before he could react. The younger vampire tried to push him away, but it was useless as Jesse dug his claws deeper into his chest. "Give me one reason not to punish you!"

"Give me a reason not to set you on fire."

His ears perked up when a familiar voice entered the picture. Slowly, his signature grin reappeared on his face, "Mickey? Is that you?"

"Who was the new kid, Lenny?"

"Ooohho, and little Lisa, too?"

"Not too little to kick your ass, Jesse." she snapped, her eyes flashing at him.

“Well," Jesse licked his lips. "You're no fun anymore, Cold.” he growled and threw the other vampire on the ground. He stood up and adjusted his coat. "Why must you kids travel in packs these days? Whatever happened to old school rules?"

"Well, whatever happened to hearing someone out?" Len asked, standing up and acting like he hadn't just been attacked. He could deal with the older vampire's insolence at a later point.

Jesse stuck his tongue out at him; cold hearted son of a bitch, he thought.

"Alrighty, if it'll get you off my back for two seconds, then I'll _bite,_ " He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to them. "But, but, but, I gotta ask... What exactly is in it for me?" he asked, not feeling in the mood to deal with all of these young punks tonight.

"The Flash," Cold offered up.

"His head on a pike," Lisa added.

"Maybe a little bit torched, too." Mick grinned, running his fingers through the flame of his lighter.

Jesse's back was still to them, but all of them could see the cogs in his twisted brain start to spin and turn. An eerie smile slowly began to appear on each of their faces when he nodded. He spun around on his heel and put the tips of his fingers together, giggling like a madman. "Why didn't you say so earlier, Lenny!? C'mon, let's talk murder!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Axel was curled up on Jesse's canopy bed, clutching one of the hundreds of stuffed animals that was on the bed for comfort. Jesse took in the sight from his doorway and sighed. He threw his coat on a nearby chair and took off his shoes before crossing over to the bed. His boy looked up and began wipe at the tears that stained his cheeks.

"Wasn't cryin'," Axel offered up, weakly. Jesse didn't buy his lie, but he pulled him into a hug as he sat down.

“I didn't get you into trouble, right...?” he sniffled, and Jesse hushed him.

“Everything's fine, baby boy.” He murmured. He checked over Axel for any leftover spots of blood on his face, like any normal parent checking their child's face after eating.

Axel lowered and buried his face into his chest. “I just thought...” he sighed. "I thought you were going to get in trouble for being in Len's 'area'. O- Or I thought you were in trouble for b- blooding me-" Jesse gently grabbed his head and made him look at him.

“You're fine~” He reassured him. "You chose this, I'm teaching you, so everything with that is alright." He wiped his eyes. “Lenny just wanted to talk with me about... turf and clans.” Jesse said. Axel nodded his head, accepting whatever answer his father had to offer him.

“So what did you talk about?”

Jesse's lips slowly stretched out to his normal grin. “A certain _red_ thorn in all of our sides.” he replied slowly. Axel tilted his head much like a confused puppy, and Jesse let out a small laugh. "A certain Speedster who has far overstayed his welcome here in Central."

"The Flash?" Axel's eyes widened. "Already!? But w- what are we gonna-" He was silenced when Jesse pressed a finger against his lips.

"No," he murmured. "It's not time for that now."

"Why not-"

 _"Shush,"_ Jesse glared at him. Then he fully gathered his son into the sanctuary of his arms, listening as his breathing finally began to even out. He relaxed and moved them so they were reclined back on the bed. “It’s almost dawn,” he finally sighed. “You should be asleep.”

Axel hummed in disagreement.

"But daaad, I can't go to sleep without you..." he whined weakly.

Jesse sighed again. He just knew Axel would become clingy the second he let him crawl into bed alongside him. In a healthy bond, a lot of apprentices couldn't bare to sleep in a separate room of their master. Well... That and he had the only bedroom were the windows were shuttered tight and blocked with thick, heavy curtains. Yes, Jesse was old enough and strong enough that the sunlight would not kill him immediately, but he wouldn't risk letting his son accidentally open the curtains and burst into ashes!

Axel shifted in Jesse’s arms. “But what ab-”

“Shuuu _uussshh_ ,"

Jesse looked down and met Axel’s gaze, mouth turned up in a small smile as he giggled softly, "We'll plan murder tomorrow. I promise~"


End file.
